Love at Dawn

Chapter2

I bent down to get my medication from the drawer in the nightstand. He was smoking on the couch, shaking off the ashes as he watched me take out the bottle. As soon as I opened and poured out a capsule into my mouth, his face went cold, and he snapped, "Throw the medicine away."

He raised his hand and knocked the bottle over, scattering the pills on the floor. "Who told you to buy birth control pills on your own? I warned you before, you took my words for granted, didn't you?" he sneered.

I retorted, "Don't pretend like you want me to get pregnant. Angus, there are plenty of women out there who want to give you a child, not least of which is Heaslet. Don't worry, even if you had twenty illegitimate children, I wouldn't frown."

"You like to piss me off all the time, don't you? Your brother was rescued from prison by me through my connections, so you have no place to beg me now do you? It's just Heaslet, do you think there's nothing I can do to fix you? I didn't say anything before, but I just didn't want to tear my face too much. Since you've been dead set on not changing, I'll tell you today, if you go too far, your brother won't be able to have a good time. After all, a crippled man with broken arms and legs, what else can he do to fight back?" he said, making me shiver.

I couldn't imagine that Leo was already like that, and Angus still wouldn't let him go. My chest fluctuated like a rolling hill, filled with rage. My voice involuntarily trembled, "Angus, how much do you hate him? He's come to this, and what do you have against him?"

"How much do I hate him, do you think? My sister Lilia was killed by your brother, have you forgotten that already?" he said.

I sat down on the bed disheveled. "Then kill me too. Lilia died because of Leo. If I die by your hand, it's even. I just beg you to spare Leo and stop torturing him." I said.

Because of my words, Angus went out without looking back.

Meanwhile, Maya, the babysitter, knocked on the door outside, and I let her in. She looked at me, wanting to say something. I said sullenly, "Don't try to persuade me. He and I were born to not get along. Our marriage was a huge mistake. He married me in the first place to t*****e me for his dead sister, and he probably won't let me go until he dies."

"MADAM, don't ever say that. Angus is not really bad to you. It's just that he doesn't have a very good temper and needs to be coaxed. Sometimes he says things you don't like to hear, so just humor him and don't confront him." she said.

I didn't take her up on that because she was just the person who took care of the day-to-day living here. She didn't realize some of the deeper reasons why Angus and I were at odds with each other that couldn't be explained in a sentence or two.

I lay on the bed with my eyes closed tiredly. Maya, the nanny, finished cleaning up the mess on the floor, closed the door behind her and went out. Angus drove straight out the door because he was angry with me, so naturally I didn't care where he went to get away for the night.

I was sticky and sweaty from the argument earlier, so I took a shower. Angus hadn't returned all night, so I drifted off to sleep alone in my bed. Despite being tired, I slept uneasily, dreaming repeatedly. Lilia called to me in my dream, "Heaslet, come here." I tried hard to grab her, but she was gone again. I remembered it was the thirteenth again.

I was surprised to be in a trance for a moment when I saw my blurred self-revealed in the fog-shrouded mirror. In the morning, it was a new day when I woke up and the phone rang with a reminder. Every month, on the morning of the thirteenth, I go to the nursing home on the outskirts of town to see Leo, Leo.

Driving to the nursing home, I saw the nurse talking to him from a distance. Leo smiled when he saw me coming and left, closing the door behind him.

Leo asked me, "How have you been?"

I smiled and straightened his collar and said, "Can't you see I've gained a lot of weight, so naturally I'm doing well. It's easy to get fat when you don't have anything to worry about."

"Not fat at all, nothing but skin and bones. You tell me every time you come that you are living a happy life, but now I can't get out, I can only believe your words. However, my intuition tells me that it is not the case. Maybe it's the heat lately, I'm always a little irritated inside."

"How many times do I have to say the same thing before you feel comfortable? If Angus didn't like me, why did he marry me and try to save you in the first place?"

"That's true, but in the first place, Lilia always got into trouble because of me, Angus hated me to death, and along with that, you were also implicated. Besides, you were all set to marry Leonard, but something happened to me when you were about to get married, and after that you told me you had married Angus. Heaslet, how could I not suspect the truth about you? You've been in a relationship with Leonard for years, you've come through thick and thin together, but to say you've broken up, even if you're reluctant to say why, I know it must be because of me."

"What are you thinking!" I walked up behind him and squeezed his shoulders, "Wasn't it good that I married Angus? The Adams family is the most powerful family in the land, rich and powerful. Ask any woman who isn't jealous of me."

"But he's not your favorite."

"Who says I don't like him?" I laughed, "Have you forgotten? He was my favorite guy back then, following Lilia around Angus every day. Isn't that what Leonard and I are all about? Marriage is just plain living, no matter who I'm with. With Angus, I'm living a more decent life instead, no matter how I think about it."

The look on Leo's face finally relaxed a bit when he heard this from me. After I married Angus, he always felt ashamed of me, and after I persuaded him many times, he finally believed me.

On the way back from the sanatorium, the sky was a bit cloudy. In the morning, the sky was still sunny, but this moment it was like this. The sky in June changes in the blink of an eye. Seeing that it was about to rain, I leaned against the car window glass and closed my eyes to rest. Not long after, I heard the pattering rain gradually outside, and my memories went back to a certain day a year ago.

That day, it was also a rainy day, and I received a message from Angus on my cell phone with a simple line: Hilton Hotel, 501.

I went to meet him, and the elevator went all the way up to the fifth floor. The carpet on the floor was unusually soft, and even though I was wearing high heels, it didn't make a single sound. When I knocked on the door, my heart raced nervously. The man inside came over to open the door. The room was brightly lit, while the sound-activated lights in the corridor had gone out, dim. He just stood in the doorway looking down at me, in no hurry to let me in. I looked at his expressionless face and, not knowing what to think, I turned around to leave. However, he pulled me in with a single, forceful motion. The moment the door was closed, I was pinned against him.

Angus was obviously so close to me at that moment, yet I felt like his voice was coming from far away. He had that cruel, panic-inducing smile on his face. "Heaslet, you're just going to leave? You don't care about your brother's death? It pays to kill, you do realize that, don't you? Do you think Leo will get away with it this time?" he said.

I spoke with difficulty and humility. "You called me earlier and said you had a way to save him. I'm begging you Angus, just get Leo out of there, let me do anything."

"Anything?" He was still smiling, but I couldn't see a hint of a smile on his face. His fingers suddenly traced my face. "It's been a long time. I saw you at the jewelry store the other day. I can't believe you ... are getting married. Heaslet, you are living a cozy life, married to Leonard. Next year you're not ready to have another child? I don't know if you remember how my sister died when you were so happy." he said.

When he said the latter, I could see the muscles in his face throbbing, like a hideous beast in the darkness.

Leo's story was a tragic one. At that time, Leo had met his enemy in a bar. Both had been drinking, and after some arguing, a fight broke out. But Leo was alone and was quickly restrained, and the other guy called me to go to the scene.